


In The Low Light

by marsakat



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Band, Awkward Sexual Situations, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, First Meetings, Fluff, M/M, Rebounds, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-21
Updated: 2016-07-21
Packaged: 2018-07-25 20:44:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7546837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marsakat/pseuds/marsakat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nothing's worse than being newly single and attending a wedding, unless there's a hot groomsman.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In The Low Light

**Author's Note:**

> from a tumblr prompt, but also my complete projection at the fact all my friends are getting engaged and I'm....here.

There reaches a time in your twenties when it feels like everyone is getting married, and being single is awful. But when you’ve been freshly dumped, it's pure torture.  Tyler didn't mind getting invitations back when he had a serious boyfriend.  He’d expected they'd be sending 'Save the Date' cards of their own with cheesy romantic photos courtesy of a photographer friend. 

Five years they dated. Five long years and it should've been Tyler getting married next year.  _He_  should've proposed on the romantic vacation Tyler had planned for their sixth anniversary of meeting (Tyler knocked into _him_ at a bar and got drenched in beer but  _he_  laughed it off and lent Tyler _his_ hoodie and that was it), but nope.  _He_  broke up with Tyler on the phone four days before the trip.

Tyler sobbed enough to the travel agent to get a full voucher to reimburse. He sounded so pathetic, she took pity on him. Tyler planned to travel around the world, or maybe just halfway. A trip to 'find himself', but it'd have to wait until after the wedding. Because Kat would kill him if he wasn't there. And he would rather die than miss the wedding of one of his best friends from childhood due to a stupid broken heart. 

So he grit his teeth and bore it. And Tyler was so, so happy for her. She absolutely glowed. Tyler definitely cried during the ceremony even though he was trying to toughen himself up and stop being all emotional. Kat and her groom, Matt, had met during college, and Tyler thought he was a Very Cool Dude. He was great at guitar; Tyler and him jammed a couple times (Tyler on ukulele, which he insisted was also, Very Cool).   Kat had made a few hints about Matt having some single friends for Tyler, who groaned at her insisting that he have a rebound fling. 

"I don't want to start off your marriage with me having a messy affair that would make future barbecues at your new house, like, really awkward as I run into the guy year after year and we don't talk about what transpired."

"You need to get  _him_  out of your head. I give you full permission to book a hotel room and go absolutely wild at my wedding. Please. I want you to be happy."

"I appreciate that, but I'm too old for rebounds! I need a relationship. I need a spouse!"

“Just book a room. Stay the whole weekend."

Tyler didn't tell her he planned on leaving after the cake was cut—maybe even before. It wasn't like she would notice since there would be hundreds of people there. It was a long drive up to the mountain resort they were using as a venue. He wanted to skedaddle before it got too late. Granted all he'd be doing at home would be playing video games alone, but Tyler preferred that over watching couples slow dance into the early hours.  It sucked being forced to confront his loneliness, wishing he had someone of his own to hold.

During the ceremony, he surveyed the wedding party, trying to guess who was single. He swore to himself before that he wouldn't act upon anything today, but Tyler was allowed to  _look_  after all.  During a long speech, Tyler began to play "find the wedding band on the groomsmen’s fingers". Sadly it looked like most were taken except for two; one super tall guy—like shockingly tall. Tyler was amazed, and concluded if that was his target, Tyler would literally be climbing that man like a tree. 

The second guy had shockingly pink hair, and Tyler couldn't help but be annoyed about how it threw off the whole aesthetic of the wedding. The bridesmaids were all in lavender, and the groomsmen had matching ties--pink did not fit into this color scheme. Didn't this guy know he should've dyed to match or at least gone natural? Tyler knew Kat looked too beautiful to upstage on her big day, but he was irritated on her behalf. (He didn't really get a look at anyone's faces because their backs were turned, but Tyler assumed they were all hot)

But with the exchanging of vows, and whirlwind of activity, Tyler’s mind was at least distracted from his own angst.  In spite of his broken heart, Tyler managed to dance at the reception—making great impressions on all eligible bachelors (or so he hoped) as he shimmied jokingly with some of Kat's friends. But then _the song_ came on--the one  _he_  and Tyler had declared was _theirs_ , and all happiness was sucked out of the room. Tyler tried to keep having fun, but he just felt like leaving altogether. 

He told his little group he had to use the bathroom, when really he planned on leaving without telling anyone. He was really trying to avoid letting the tears fall—he’d been doing so well and then it just hit him that he was alone and sad. Everyone else was with someone and happy, and Tyler just had his Xbox to go home to. 

"'Scuse me," Tyler called over the music to the body in his way. The person turned their head and Tyler's breath actually left his body. 

"Sorry—hey you okay, man?" The lights flashed and Tyler's first impression was 'Shiny! Teeth! Smile! Whoa!' It was the pink haired groomsman and Tyler forgot all previous annoyance because he was very handsome. 

"Yeah. Um. Hi. Tyler."

"Is that your name or are you guessing mine?" 

It'd been too long since Tyler had flirted with pretty boys that took his breath away.  "I'm Tyler—a friend of Kat's. You're a groomsman, right?"

"Yep. Josh," the guy pointed at himself, "Always a bridesmaid, never a bride."

"Tell me about it," Tyler said, commiserating. "This is the fifth wedding I've attended this year, and it's only April."

They'd unconsciously started bouncing to the beat in sync, Josh's friends watching in excitement. 

"It’s been even worse since I just got dumped," Josh replied. 

"Dude, same! Nearly six years and poof! Over."

"That really sucks. Mine was only three but _he_ did break up with me when I tried to propose," Josh said with a strained smile. 

"Nooo," Tyler groaned, "I'm so sorry. That's awful!"

"Look at the two of us, being all sad and stuff. There's better fish in the sea...tell me more about yourself," Josh was smiling again and Tyler had to clear his head of all these happy, floaty feelings. 

Tyler didn't even realize the song was over as they kept chatting. Josh had gotten super excited when Tyler mentioned writing music for fun, telling him all about the drums he'd bought and bands he played in on the side. They had migrated to an empty table and were deep in conversation when Kat appeared and dragged them back to the dancefloor. 

Josh definitely wasn't as smooth a dancer as Tyler, though his rhythm was impeccable. They were having too much fun to really care, though when the slow songs came on there was an awkward pause. 

"You wanna?" Tyler gestured between the two of them. 

"Okay!" Josh smiled and took his waist as Tyler placed arms around his shoulders. They kept talking as if they weren't dancing so close together, surrounded by couples in love.  They moved slowly and Josh was animatedly talking about his favorite pizza places when Tyler took the initiative and pressed his body forward.  He slid his fingers into Josh’s hair and they were cheek to cheek.

“Oh,” Josh breathed into his ear.  It’d been so long since Tyler had been held by someone else; he was lonely, and Josh was pretty and nice.  “You wanna go somewhere quieter?”

Tyler didn’t even bother responding, grabbing Josh’s hand and dragging him out of the reception hall.  There was a courtyard set up with fountains and flowers and little twinkling lights that gave the area a magical romantic feeling as night had set in.  They walked around till they sat on a bench semi-obscured by a statue.

“The moon is really bright tonight,” Josh said softly, looking up at the starry sky, too shy to meet Tyler’s eyes.

“So are you.”

“That’s like, really cheesy, man,” Josh snickered, but Tyler’s didn’t grin back.  His face serious, he leaned forward and their lips met in a soft kiss.  Hands coming up to run through pink locks, or cupping the back of the other’s head. Tyler soon found himself straddling Josh’s lap in a desperate bid to get as close as possible. Josh’s mouth was pliant to Tyler’s exploring tongue, and they sucked into short, sharp breaths through their noses as Tyler rolled his hips.

A peal of laughter nearby forced them apart, and they tried to smooth their rumbled clothes as a few partygoers came into sight.

“Oooh Tyler. What’re you doing?” A girl’s voice said, and he didn’t even wait around to figure out who it was.

“Let’s go,” Tyler muttered to Josh and pulled him by the wrist to the lobby.  He was regretting not booking a room—not only was it too late to make the drive home, but there was no place for them to be alone, expect maybe his car?  Had he cleaned it out recently?

As if reading his mind, Josh pulled out a keycard from his wallet shyly.  “You wanna…come upstairs?”

Tyler felt bouncy, nervous with excitement, anticipation, and fear.  “I never do this sort of thing,” He confessed, and Josh nodded.

“Neither do I.”

They didn’t touch at all from the elevator, down the hallway, or in the doorway of Josh’s room.  He flicked on the light to reveal a typical, but nice hotel room with a small suitcase perched on the double bed.  Tyler followed him in as Josh kicked off his shoes and loosened his tie.  Vaguely Tyler wondered where both of their suit jackets had gone—probably left behind in the ballroom downstairs. 

Finally here, just the two of them was awkward and unfamiliar.  Tyler wished they could rewind to earlier in the night when conversation came easily, or even just a few minutes before when they were kissing like their lives depended on it.  Now the heavy weight of _sex_ was creating the opposite of an exciting or even romantic atmosphere.  Tyler remembered his conversation with Kat a few weeks previously, and here he was doing exactly what she’d told him to, with an extremely attractive man.  But he wasn’t feeling a reckless thrill—he was absolutely freaking out.

Josh moved closer, and the kiss was just as sweet as the first time their lips met.  The chemistry between them was irrefutable, perfect, and the layers shed revealing tattooed skin.

Tyler couldn’t help but exclaim “Wow” at first sight of Josh shirtless, the latter breaking into helpless giggles.

“You’re not so bad yourself,” Josh ran thumbs along Tyler’s hips and then cupped his ass. Tyler was the one to push him onto the bed, and Josh bounced a little, the suitcase sliding towards him.  Josh practically threw it off the bed and Tyler crawled on top of him.  Both let out matching groans as they began to grind against each other, still in their pants.  Tyler popped the button on Josh’s pants, loosening them so he could slip a hand inside.  Josh gasped, and his head fell back as Tyler began stroking his cock.

“Tyler—Tyler please,” Josh panted.

“What do you want,” Tyler said huskily.

“I don’t—I don’t know,” Josh’s hands twisted in the blanket and Tyler extricated his own to pull the remaining clothes off of them.  They returned to grinding, moaning at the pleasure neither had felt with another person in quite some time.  They’d been through so much heartache lately, that it was all too sharp, too desperate seeking comfort.  Tyler’s hand gripped them both and he began thrusting hard into his fist, sliding against Josh who was a wreck underneath him.

“C-close,” Josh stuttered, and Tyler slowed down.

“Do you have stuff?”

“Wha—?” Josh gave a choked groan.

“I, like, just met you, we need lube and condoms to—” Tyler figured they were on the fast track to fucking, and might as well continue forward, even though he felt a hollowness in his core.  He didn’t want to roll around with strangers.  Tyler wanted something more.

“Oh, um.  I think there’s some in the bathroom.” Josh blushed, “Matt gave all the groomsmen—like, a joke.”

Tyler made his way to the bathroom, pausing to examine his neck in the mirror; Josh had left a small hickey below his ear. 

“Tyler—wait,” Josh called out.

“What’s up?” Tyler poked his head to look at him sitting on the side of the bed.  Josh was gnawing on his lip and running a hand through his hair.

“Um…I’m sorry, but I just don’t think—I’m not ready for this.  This really isn’t me.  I’m just in a weird place right now, and you’re so cool and any other day I would, but I don’t know.  It’s not you, I’m just—I’m not ready,” Josh said in a rush, curling in on himself.

“Oh thank God,” Tyler said, relief flowing through him, “I don’t think I’m ready either.”

“But you—” Josh replied, confused.

“My friends have been bugging me for weeks to hook up with someone.  I was just going to go along and try not to hate myself later.”

“Dude, that’s screwed up,” Josh said with concern, “Sounds like you need new friends.”

“Nah, they mean well.  This just isn’t for me.  I’d rather—I dunno—take you out on a bunch of nice dates and get to know you before we take our clothes off.”

“Same,” and then both wore matching expressions at the self-conscious realization they were still naked.  “Would you wanna…?  Maybe go out for dinner sometime?”  Josh asked while reaching for his boxers.

“Heck yes,” Tyler said, separating his own clothes from the pile on the ground, “Um…would it be super weird if I, uh, spent the night here? Cuz it’s really late and I don’t want to drive home.”

Josh threw his head back and laughed, and Tyler felt a leaping sensation in his stomach, “Did you do that on purpose?”  Anyone else would’ve probably tossed Tyler out of the room not only for the sheer awkwardness of the encounter, but it seemed like Josh was willing to take a chance on this guy.

“Yeah, man.  All a ploy to get a free hotel room…actually I’ll totally split the bill with you,” Tyler replied, “Um, you wanna go back to the party? Cuz I kinda don’t want to face my friends right now”

“Neither do I, but I also want cake,” Josh said thoughtfully, “Let’s steal some food and come back and watch a movie on my laptop or something. You don’t need to, um, take care of yourself first?”

“I think I’m good right now.  Unsurprisingly, thinking about my sad love life is a boner killer,” Tyler got dressed while Josh tried to rearrange his hair in the mirror.  They weren’t as fully clothed as before, but passable to sneak down and make a few plates full of dessert all while dodging the wolf whistles.

But when Tyler reflected back on that night, all the embarrassment and teasing from his friends was worth it for the ‘late-night-just-hanging-out’ with Josh.  They ignored the movie in favor of just talking about their hopes and fears, and it just clicked for Tyler in a way it hadn’t before.  He didn’t even realize they fell asleep until he was waking up next to Josh.  They’d ended up pressed against each other—not really entangled, but sharing body heat and touching bare skin to bare skin.

“Mornin’” Tyler whispered when Josh opened one eye and he shuffled forward to press a chaste kiss to Josh’s lips. “So about that date…How does breakfast sound?”

“If there’s coffee, bacon, and you there; I’m down,” Josh grinned and Tyler was finally ready to give love another try.

**Author's Note:**

> come prompt me at teeentyonepilots!


End file.
